The present invention relates generally to remote inspection devices.
More particularly, the invention relates to cameras which operate in spectrums of light which are not visible to the human eye for use in observing and inspecting objects which are in difficult to view locations.
Alarming statistics are available relating to the death or serious injury of police officers when performing normal police activities. For example, an automobile may be stopped by the police for what may be considered a minor or normal traffic violation. This routine traffic stop is conducted by law enforcement personnel thousands of times each day. Though traffic stops are typically safe, they can become the most dangerous situations encountered by law enforcement personnel. When the police officer leaves his vehicle to inspect or interview the person stopped, he sometimes encounters dangerous situations where the motorist is retaliatory or unbeknownst to the police officer, has committed a serious crime. In such situations, the police officer is extremely vulnerable to attack as a view of a motorist is obscured by the vehicle, and generally, the motorist cannot be seen until the police officer is only a few feet away. Traffic stops are particularly dangerous when a motorist is stopped in a relatively isolated area by a lone police officer. In such situations, it is relatively easy for a motorist to initiate a surprise attack of a police officer using a weapon such as a knife or gun. The motorist has been known to attempt an escape, sometimes after attempting to harm or kill the police officer. Accordingly, police officers are increasingly placed in demanding situations wherein their safety is in jeopardy.
Moreover, more and more motorists are placing window tinting upon the windows of their automobiles. This window tinting can impede a view into the automobile, or can make the windows completely opaque as seen by a person outside of the automobile. This window tinting makes police officers even more vulnerable to attack. Police officers in such circumstances have been attacked and in some instances killed. Thus, it would be greatly advantageous if the police officers were provided with devices which visually pierce the tinted windows and would enable them to look within a vehicle from a more distant location or from a position less vulnerable to attack.
Dangerous situations are also encountered by firefighting personnel when they are attempting to extinguish a fire in a burning building. In fighting the fire, the firefighting personnel are often required to enter the building to search for survivors or to fight the fire itself. Unfortunately, upon entering a burning building, the vision of the firefighting personnel can be severely obstructed by smoke, fumes or the like. This can place the firefighting personnel in great danger and can severely impede the firefighter""s ability to search for survivors or extinguish the fire. Accordingly, there is a obvious need for an observation device which is capable of xe2x80x9cseeingxe2x80x9d through smoke, fumes or the like to aid firefighting personnel in their activities.
Law enforcement such as border patrol, customs, drug enforcement and treasury agents all encounter circumstances wherein it is difficult to conduct inspections. For example, each of these agencies must often inspect the undercarriages of vehicles, such as automobiles or trucks, for drugs, stolen property, explosives, etc. Unfortunately, it is often difficult for law enforcement personnel to position themselves below a vehicle for inspection. Accordingly, vehicles, due to their mobility and ubiquitous nature, have become a major resource for smugglers who wish to illegally transport objects from one location to another. Accordingly, it would be greatly advantageous if these law enforcement personnel were provided with an inspection device which would enable them to search difficult to view locations, such a below vehicles, around corners, on rooftops, in narrow crawlspaces, etc.
None of the known prior art discloses a remote inspection device which would meet the aforementioned needs of law enforcement and firefighting personnel. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,949,186 issued to Peterson discloses a vehicle mounted surveillance system. Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 5,012,335 issued to Cohodar discloses a video camera and video recording assembly disposed within a police vehicle. Unfortunately, these references disclose devices which are too bulky, and restricted to use within a vehicle, to be capable of being used easily by personnel to inspect difficult to see locations. In addition, these devices are not capable of looking through medium such as smoke, tinted windows or the like.
Meanwhile, U.S. Pat. No. 5,546,124 issued to Scerbo III discloses a handgun holster-mounted surveillance camera. The camera is activated upon a police officer removing his gun from its holster. This device is particularly useful for recording situations where a police officer is able to draw his gun. However, this device is useless where the police officer has been completely surprised and has been ambushed. Moreover, this device does not include the ability to reduce the vulnerability of a police officer, but instead, records the outcome wherein a police officer has already been placed in a vulnerable position.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,056,097 issued to Meyers discloses a targeting illuminating system which is mounted on a firearm or the like. The device is capable of illuminating a target in infrared light and includes a viewing apparatus for displaying a picture of an object illuminated by the infrared light. Unfortunately, this device is not configured for easy manual manipulation by a user to inspect difficult to view locations.
It would be highly desirable to provide a remote inspection device which can be used by the police in conducting operations such as routine traffic stops, to view objects which are in difficult to see or dangerous locations.
It would also be highly desirable to provide a remote inspection device which is capable of seeing through tinted windows, smoke, fumes or the like.
Moreover, it would be highly desirable to provide a remote inspection device which is capable of operating in the dark or in low light conditions.
In addition, it would be highly desirable to provide a remote inspection device which is capable of operating without informing nonusers that the inspection device is in operation. To this end, it would be highly desirable that the remote inspection device operates in wavelengths of light which are not seen by the human eye.
Briefly, and in general terms, the present invention addresses the aforementioned disadvantages by providing a remote inspection device which is capable of enabling the user to inspect objects in difficult to see locations. Moreover, the remote inspection device is capable of operating in the dark or low light and is capable of seeing through certain medium which is impossible for the human eye alone to see through.
The remote inspection device of the present invention includes an elongate housing. The elongate housing is preferably hollow and tubular forming an inner sidewall and outer sidewall and defining a proximal extremity and a distal extremity. As will be explained in greater below, it is preferred that the elongate housing have a length of 24 inches or greater. More preferably, the elongate housing has a length of 36 inches or greater. Moreover, in an additional preferred embodiment, the elongate housing is telescopic, telescoping from a minimum length of less than 12 inches to a maximum length of 36 inches or more, depending on the need for each application.
Extending downwardly from the proximal extremity of the elongate housing is a grip assembly. The grip assembly is configured for receipt of a user""s hand and includes a plurality of finger rests for placement of a user""s fingers. In addition, the backside of the grip assembly includes a plurality of activation switches, such as trigger switches, toggle switches or buttons, for operating the remote inspection device.
The remote inspection device also includes a video display. Preferably, the video display is mounted near the proximal extremity of the elongate housing by a swivel mount, such as a ball joint mount, located on the upper surface of the elongate housing. The swivel mount enables the user to adjust the video display to different angles as desired by the user.
Attached to the distal extremity of the elongate housing is a tip assembly. The tip assembly is hollow and includes a portal for receiving an image of an object that is desired to be inspected. In a first preferred embodiment, the tip assembly is rotatably mounted to the distal extremity of the elongate housing. In a second preferred embodiment, the tip assembly is detachable from the elongate housing for enabling the user of the remote inspection device to quickly and easily swap or replace the tip assembly of the remote inspection device for repair or for different applications. For example, one embodiment of the tip assembly is configured wherein the portal is substantially circular and faces forwardly such that the center of the portal is concentrically aligned with the longitudinal axis of the elongate housing. Thus, the portal receives light and images from directly in front of the remote inspection device. In an additional embodiment, the portal projects through the sidewall of the tip assembly for receiving light and images to the left, right or from above or below the remote inspection device.
The remote inspection device of the present invention also includes a camera means for creating an image of an object viewed by the remote inspection device. Preferably, the camera means is a charge coupled device (CCD) for creating a visible light image of an object for display on the video display. The display on the video display enables the user to facilitate recognition and evaluation of an object by a user of the remote inspection device. Even more preferably, the camera means of the present invention is a CCD camera which operates in a spectrum of light not visible to the human eye, such as infrared (IR). In operation, the camera means receives invisible light through the tip assembly portal. The camera means then translates this invisible light image into a visible light image for production on the video display.
Preferably, the remote inspection device also employs an invisible light illumination means for projecting invisible light upon an object intended to the inspected. The illumination means operates in the same spectrum of light as the camera means, with the combination providing a night vision system capable of producing a visual image in darkness or under very low level ambient light conditions. In addition, the illumination means and CCD camera of the present invention are capable of looking through tinted windows, smoke, fumes or the like enabling a user of the remote inspection device to inspect and evaluate objects which were previously unviewable.
The remote inspection device of the present invention also includes a power supply. The power supply is connected to the camera means, processor and video display for providing necessary power to each of these components. Preferably, the power supply is in the form of a rechargeable battery pack which may be removed for charging.
In addition to the remote inspection device itself, the present invention relates to specific applications for the device. For example, the present invention includes methods for performing law enforcement inspection. The method includes using a remote inspection device which includes an elongate housing, grip assembly, illumination means, camera means, processing means and video display. The camera means and illumination means operate in a spectrum of light not visible to the human eye enabling the remote inspection device to operate in the dark or low light conditions. The method of inspection includes the step of a law enforcement person or persons approaching an object wished to be inspected with the remote inspection device. The remote inspection device is then positioned so as to project invisible light from the illumination means upon that object. Invisible light is received by the remote inspection device""s camera means and an image of the object is created. This image is then processed by the processor and displayed on the video display. The law enforcement personnel thereafter views the image of the object on the video display for inspection and evaluation. This method of law enforcement inspection is particularly useful when conducting a routine traffic stop at night. A police officer approaches an automobile with the remote inspection device of the present invention. The remote inspection device is positioned so that the portal of the tip assembly faces into the driver side window of the automobile. For this inspection, it is preferred that the tip assembly is configured with the portal disposed through the tip assembly""s right sidewall so as to easily look through the driver""s side windows of an automobile when approaching from the rear. In this manner, a police officer, or other law enforcement person, can stand several feet behind the automobile""s driver and passengers, and substantially out of harm""s way, when viewing the motorist, any passengers and the interior of the automobile.
In an additional aspect, the invention relates to a method of inspecting a smoke filled building by firefighting personnel. The method of inspection includes the steps of a firefighter entering a building wherein the visibility in the visible light spectrum is obscured by smoke with the remote inspection device. The remote inspection device is thereafter positioned so as to project invisible light from the illumination means upon an object or objects wished to be inspected. The invisible light bounces off the object or objects and is received through the portal of the tip assembly and acquired by the camera means. The camera means, in conjunction with the processor, produces an image which is then displayed on the video display. For this application, it is preferred that the tip assembly be configured with a circular portal having its center concentrically aligned with the longitudinal axis of the elongate housing. In this configuration, the remote inspection device xe2x80x9clooksxe2x80x9d in the forward direction to enable firefighting personnel to walk through a building where their vision would ordinarily be obstructed by smoke, fumes or the like.
It is thus an object of the present invention to provide a remote inspection device which is portable and easily manipulated by the user.
It is an additional object of the present invention to provide a remote inspection device which is capable of operating in darkness or low light conditions.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a remote inspection device which has universal applications such as for law enforcement inspection and for firefighting investigation.
Other features and advantages of the present invention will be appreciated by those skilled in the art upon reading the detailed description which follows with reference to the attached drawings.